Places serving Sri Lankan food are dotted across the city of London, and so, when I heard of Hoppers opening on Frith Street, it seemed like just another southern Indian/Sri Lankan restaurant. But so many had waxed lyrical about the food that a visit had to be on the cards, not just because of the cuisine, but also to find out if the four-hour queue on a Saturday evening will be worth the wait.

Karam, Jyotin and Sunaina Sethi have built a reputation for some exceptionally good food at Trishna and Gymkhana, while investing in some of London’s popular restaurants including Lyle’s, Bubbledogs and Bao, all serving up delicious plates of food. This latest offering—a 32-seater space in the house of Soho—ticks all the boxes.

Hoppers is inspired by family home-cooking and street eats from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The decor reflects that with terracotta tiles, woven rattan ceiling and an ochre brick wall finish.

The menu is simple, concise and lists short eats—the Sri Lankan term for snacks with drinks—as well as a list of karis, sambols and a selection of hoppers and dosas served with a variety of chutneys.

Waiting for a few friends, I order their G&T with curry leaves and cardamom along with cashew, cassava and ash plantain fry, and Chicken Heart Chukka. Yes, I was hungry and these kept me happy. The Chicken Heart Chukka was cooked with coconut, curry leaves, green beans and tomatoes. This dry curry was a revelation, well-spiced with flavours of fennel, ginger and chilli. I have previously eaten a chukka cooked with mutton, but chicken hearts work so well, I could have probably had a few more plates of the dish!

My solo starters certainly set things off to a good start. Lamb Kari and Black Pork Kari were accompanied by three sambols: Pol—made with freshly-scraped coconut flesh; Seeni—with a caramelised onion base and Katta—made with red chilli, onion and Maldive fish. These were accompanied by an array of hoppers, plain as well as egg, topped with coarse black pepper. The much talked about Bone Marrow Varuval is a thing of beauty, served with a layered flaky roti to soak up the thick gravy.

There is also a selection of dosas that are served plain or with a podi (spiced powder) and a choice of meat, seafood or vegetable kari, with a tomato and coconut chutney, a curry leaf chutney and a fresh coconut chutney. Similar to those on the Sethis’ Michelin-starred menu at Gymkhana, the dosas will be conical in shape, but at Hoppers, are twice the size.

With most Indian restaurants, desserts tend to become an afterthought. But pace yourself through your meal here and save some room for the Watalapam, a steamed custard made with coconut milk, kithul jaggery and spices; or a falooda of buffalo curd, salted cashew and candied ginger kulfi, rambutan, coconut water and pandan jelly.

Words like home-cooking and street food are always music to my ears. And the food most certainly speaks volumes of the flavours of the respective regions, celebrating dishes that don’t always get their due. The food at Hoppers is definitely deserving of all the praise it is getting. Now the only question is to queue or not to queue!